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Frankenstein in popular culture
Comics The Monster has also been the subject of many comic book adaptations, ranging from the ridiculous (a 1960s series portraying The Monster as a superhero; see below), to more straightforward interpretations of Shelley's work. Dick Briefer's Frankenstein (1940-1954) In 1940, cartoonist Dick Briefer wrote and drew a Frankenstein's-monster comic book title for Crestwood Publications's Prize Comics, beginning with a standard horrific version, updated to contemporary America, but then in 1945 crafting an acclaimed and well-remembered comedic version that spun off into his own title, Frankenstein Comics. The series ended with issue #17 (Jan.-Feb. 1949, but was revived as a horror title from #18-33 (March 1952 - Oct.-Nov. 1954). The original Prize version served as catalyst for an intra-company crossover, where all characters starring in Prize Comics at the time teamed up to fight Frankenstein. DC Comics DC Comics' Movie Comics #1 (April 1939) featured an eight-page fumetti adaptation of the film Son of Frankenstein. The Monster appeared in Superman No. 143 (February 1961), in a story entitled "Bizarro Meets Frankenstein!" In 1973 the "Spawn of Frankenstein" appeared in the Phantom Stranger comic, written by Len Wein. The portrayal of the monster was as a reclusive, sympathetic character who had been living alone in the Arctic since the death of his creator. A 1995 Batman special called Batman: Castle of the Bat by Jack C. Harris and Bo Hampton amalgamates Batman and Frankenstein. Bruce Wayne fills the role of Victor Frankenstein, wishing to revive his deceased father. Having successfully done so, his creation becomes the monstrous "Bat-Man", a hulking figure in a rough analogue of the Batman costume who preys upon highwaymen, similar to the one who took the lives of the (this story's) parents of Bruce Wayne. Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth is changed to a hunchbacked dwarf named Alfredo, filling the "Igor" role. In The Superman Monster (1999), Lex Luthor is Viktor Luther, the creator. He discovers the spacecraft that would have carried the infant Superman to Earth. Inside, however, is only the skeleton of a child. Using the Kryptonian technology, he is able to animate his (unintentionally) super-powered creature, which initially resembles Bizarro. The creature flees and is raised by the kindly couple Johann and Marta Kant. They name the creature Klaus, after their dead son. The story features the Lois Lane character becoming "The Bride" to Superman's Creature. DC Comics and Roy Thomas revived the character "The Spawn of Frankenstein" in Young All-Stars; he then appeared in Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory. Here, Frankenstein is a Milton-quoting, gun-toting warrior battling to prevent the end of the world. In addition, DC's team of movie monster-esque soldiers known as the Creature Commandos featured a character that resembled the Universal Pictures version of Frankenstein's monster; Private Elliot "Lucky" Taylor was nearly killed after stepping on a land mine, but was grotesquely reconstructed into a "Patchwork Creature" (as designated by the Who's Who in the DC Universe entry on the Creature Commandos), and later rendered mute by a failed suicide attempt. Later, DC Comics debuted an unrelated superhero (and member of the Teen Titans) called "Young Frankenstein." In Warren Ellis and John Cassaday's Planetary, the protagonist, Elijah Snow, discovers an abandoned laboratory, filled with patchwork undead monsters. It is heavily implied that the lab belonged to Victor Frankenstein, and that, alongside Count Dracula, the Invisible Man, and Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein had been part of a covert, 19th century conspiracy to shape the direction of the future. In the comic book Major Bummer, Louie defends the common misnaming of the monster as "Frankenstein": Dr. Frankenstein is, so to speak, the monster's "father", and it is only right that a son should have his father's family name. This is also the argument taken by the Seven Soldiers incarnation. As of September 2011, the Seven Soldiers version of the character stars in the ongoing series Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E., one of the launch titles of DC Comics' The New 52 initiative. Marvel Comics The monster appeared as a foe to Marvel Comics' X-Men in issue #40 of their eponymous series (January 1968). In the story, written by Roy Thomas, the monster had various powers, including incredible strength, optic beams, and magnetized feet. He was an ambassador sent to Earth by aliens in the 1850s, but upon arrival, he went berserk. His fellow aliens followed him to the North Pole, where he was frozen. In the present, he was discovered by scientists and thawed. According to Professor X, this android was the inspiration for Shelley's novel. The Monster of Frankenstein, the first five issues of which (Jan.-September 1973) contained a faithful (in spirit at least) retelling of Shelley's tale before transferring The Monster into the present day and pitting him against James Bond-inspired evil organizations. The artist, Mike Ploog, recalled, "I really enjoyed doing Frankenstein because I related to that naive monster wandering around a world he had no knowledge of — an outsider seeing everything through the eyes of a child." Invaders #31 The Invaders searching the Human Torch and Toro disappear in Switzerland, the Invaders’ investigation brings them face to fist with Frankenstein. A wheel-chair-bound Nazi scientist and Japanesse doctor plan to transplant said Nazi scientist’s brain into Captain America’s body. The Invaders have to fight Frankenstein in the issue (Frankenstein is dressed as a Nazi officer) Other publishers Classic Comics #27 (December 1945), reprinted in Classics Illustrated #26, had versions of the Shelley novel. Dell Comics published a superhero version of the character in the comic book series Frankenstein #2-4 (September 1966 - March 1967; issue #1, published Oct. 1964, featured a very loose adaptation/update of the 1931 Universal Pictures movie). In 1972, French comics publisher Aredit devoted seven issues of its digest-sized Hallucinations horror comic magazine to adapt Jean-Claude Carrière's Frankenstein novels. In 1991, Dark Horse Comics issued an adaptation of the 1931 Universal film. The Monster is Monster in My Pocket #13. He appears among the good monsters in the comic book (1991), the video game (1991), the animated special (1992), and the 2003 animated series. In the comics, he was relatively inarticulate, represented by hyphens between each syllable he spoke, but possessed of simple wisdom and strong morals. This characterization was essentially characterized in the video game, where he was a playable character, and his only line of dialogue in the cut scenes was "Yeah..." In the animated special, he was known as "Big Ed" and was essentially a comic simpleton. Junji Ito serialized a manga adaptation of the novel, which was collected and published by Asahi Sonorama as the last tankōbon volume of The Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection in 1999. 2004 saw the debut of Doc Frankenstein, written by the Wachowski brothers, the writer-director team of The Matrix), and drawn by Steve Skroce. The book tells the continuing adventures of Frankenstein's monster, who has since adopted his creator's name and became a hero through the ages. In 2004, manga artist Atsushi Ōkubo produced the manga Soul Eater; in the fifth chapter a character known as Franken Stein made his debut, much of his design was referenced from the novel "Frankenstein" including his body being covered in dozens of self-inflicted stitches. Like his namesake Franken Stein is both a skilled doctor and scientist, actually accomplishing in resurrecting another character into a zombie. But otherwise the rest of Victor Frankentsin's character was mostly tossed aside (the character was obsessed with taking things apart, usually with scalpels, and he was also a skilled fighter, especially in hand to hand combat). the major difference between Franken Stein and Mary Shelly's Victor Frankenstein is the fact that Franken Stein has the classic personality of a psycopath or serial killer. In 2005, Dead Dog Comics produced a sequel to the Frankenstein mythos with Frankenstein: Monster Mayhem, written by R. D. Hall with art by Jerry Beck. In Dead Dog's version, the monster sets out to create his own Necropolis. Also in 2005, Speakeasy Comics put out their sequel, The Living and the Dead, written by Todd Livingston and Robert Tinnell, with art by Micah Farritor. In it, Victor, now calling himself Hans, must create a new body for his first cousin who wants her syphilitic son to remain alive after a vicious beating, and she coerces him to do so under fear of exposing him for who he really is. Half-crazed due to the disease, the newly born monster proceeds to start a Grand Guignol theater in Ingolstadt until Victor puts him down with the help of the first monster he ever created. As thanks, Victor begins work on the last attempt he will make at playing God, and begins to build the original creature a mate. In 2005, Puffin Books released a graphic novel adaptation adapted by Gary Reed with art from Frazer Irving. The 2006 Beckett Entertainment/Image comics graphic novel The Cobbler's Monster: A Tale of Gepetto's Frankenstein features an amalgamation between Gepetto and Victor Frankenstein, who reanimates his dead son. In 2006, Eros Comix published Adult Frankenstein, a comic book with Frankenstein x-rated stories (featuring also other classic monsters) all written by Enrico Teodorani (creator of Djustine), with cover by Joe Vigil and interior art by some of the best Italian authors in the erotic comics field. Also in 2006, Big Bang Comics published an issue of Big Bang Presents featuring a superhero incarnation of the monster called Super Frankenstein. Manga artist Mitsukazu Mihara published a volume collection of six short stories entitled Beautiful People on October 20, 2001. The main story, also titled "beautiful people", follows a woman who had plastic surgery done hoping to become beautiful and loved, but after she meets a young girl stitched together from corpses, she realizes that girl was the truly beautiful one because of the love she gave. The 2007 manga series Embalming -The Another Tale of Frankenstein-, published by Shueisha, is based on the idea that Victor Frankenstein actually existed and created an artificial human from bodyparts of dead people and that 150 years after this event, numerous doctors across Europe are using what's left of his notes to try and create their own monsters. The series also features characters reading Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. In 2009 Papercutz published a Classics Illustrated Deluxe Graphic Novel adaptation of Frankenstein by French cartoonist Marion Mousse. His adaptation was originally published in French in three volumes, and was all collected and translated into English for the Papercutz version. Of all the comic book adaptations this one is probably the most faithful to the original book. References